12 month Iraqi experiment

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llazy_llama

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Sometime this summer, I'll be leaving for Iraq for 6 months or so. Not my choice, but you gotta do what you gotta do. Because of this, I figure I'll have a nice little experiment. I plan on brewing 6 different recipes, and brewing each of these twice. One of which I will drink, sample, and critique as soon as it's drinkable. The second batch will bulk age in secondary for nearly a year while I'm away. After speaking with Forrest at Austin Homebrew I have decided on the following 6 recipes. Disclaimer: I don't yet have the equipment for all grain, so all of these will be extract brews. When I get back, I should have funding enough to go AG as well as invest in a kegging system. All of the following brews will be straight from AHS, and brewed as per the instructions. The only modification I will make is 1 tsp of Irish Moss in the IPA and the Belgian. All brews will use the recommended White Labs yeast, and I will double up on the mead and barley wine.

  1. Sweet Traditional Mead (should be interesting, I've never tasted mead)
  2. American Barley wine (high expectations on this one aged!)
  3. Steamroller Stout (Forrest has a lot of pride in this particular recipe. He says that it will age extremely well, to the point of being almost two different beers)
  4. Robust Porter
  5. Devil's Brew Belgian Ale
  6. Double IPA

Feel free to post any questions, comments, concerns, or just a good old fashioned epileptic banana. I'll keep you updated.
 
Sounds like a great idea :ban: I whish I had done that prior to my two deployments over there.

I have a buddy that's gonna be heading to Iraq for a year and was planning on throwing him a going away/brewing party then saving the beer to have him tap it as soon as he gets back.

I think you'll have the best result on the aged mead and barleywine. Those are gonna be awesome when you get back.

Good luck over there and come home safe! :ban:
 
I'm not a fan of aging IPAs. The best characteristics usually come from them being fresh. Sure, historically the higher alcohol and hops were included to help them on long trips, but these days, it seems like a waste of hops to me. Other than that, it sounds cool.
 
good luck man my buddys heading back over there soon too.

You should also add in a 5 gallon batch of Apfelwein and let it age for 6 months. I have heard that it gets real good with age.
 
I would add in a Ed Worts(sp?) apfelwein to that mix, other then that sounds like a great plan.

Hope you get back safe and sound. Remember incoming rounds have the right of way at all times. And its not so much the round with your name on it, its all the ones labled 'to any sender' that i would worry about.
 
Agree on the IPA probably not tasting as good by then as it would after only a few weeks, but I bet it's still pretty darn good. This is an excellent experiment and I hope you take careful notes about all. It could make for some very interesting reading.

Hey, I have an idea, why not send me a bottle or two of each and I can taste them for you in about 6 months time! That way you have even more data!
 
:drunk:
good luck man my buddys heading back over there soon too.

You should also add in a 5 gallon batch of Apfelwein and let it age for 6 months. I have heard that it gets real good with age.

Man, I would... but Apfelwein has this weird habit of disappearing around my household. I drink my fair share, and my wife just gives an innocent smile and ignores my questions, so I assume it just evaporates over time. :D

I am going to try and smuggle in a few dozen packs of Montrachet and some stoppers. I might be limited to three beers per day (BMC only, of course) over there, but I doubt they have a limit on apple juice. I'll just sub corn sugar for table sugar and call it a day. Granted, the 3 beer per day limit is pretty lenient compared to most other deployments... plus I can always buddy up with the Brits or Aussies (friggin love these guys! Ask me about the time I ran into two Royal Navy sailors in Okinawa) to get extra drinks. They don't have a limit, and they can be very generous at times.

Masshole: I just learned recently that I'm on a 6 month on, 6 month off deployment rotation. After 6 years where my roughest TDY was to Osan AFB, Korea (party central), I changed station to this base where I'm suddenly in high demand. It's not nearly as bad as most of my buddies in other branches have it, but I still think it kind of sucks. I guess I might as well make the best of it.

To everyone who said thank you for your service: Thank you for your consideration. Most of us do what we do because we choose to, and on behalf of all my Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, and Navy brethren, you are very welcome. Just keep fighting for your rights on the home front, and we'll keep defending them overseas. :mug:
 
Agree on the IPA probably not tasting as good by then as it would after only a few weeks, but I bet it's still pretty darn good. This is an excellent experiment and I hope you take careful notes about all. It could make for some very interesting reading.

Hey, I have an idea, why not send me a bottle or two of each and I can taste them for you in about 6 months time! That way you have even more data!

No worries there. Their rounds tend to be 7.62mm in diameter. I haven't bothered to measure a 2000 lbs. JDAM (Joint Direct Attack Munition, AKA: big friggin accurate bomb!) , but I can tell you from personal experience that it's quite a bit larger than 7.62mm. :D

Edited: I should have mentioned this in my first post, but it slipped my mind. I'm not a registered Cicerone by any means, any my palate tends to be a bit vulgar. I actually have a few HBT folks in mind that I would like to ship some bottles to, in order to get additional readings on them. Don't bother posting and asking if you're one of them, I'll PM the folks I mean, :mug:
 
Sounds like a plan. +1 on adding the Irish Moss. I don't know what kind of seals you get with your primary/secondary/carboy/etc., but I would suggest something a little more like either putting wax or hot glue around the stopper/air-lock to try to further prevent any possible contamination.

(For the smart alecs: no, not where the gas escapes, just around the opening)
 
I'm not a fan of aging IPAs. The best characteristics usually come from them being fresh. Sure, historically the higher alcohol and hops were included to help them on long trips, but these days, it seems like a waste of hops to me. Other than that, it sounds cool.

I'll add some sanitized oak into the secondary. I did just that with my first IPA, and it turned out amazing. Granted, I only oaked it for about 2 weeks, as opposed to 9 months, but I think it'll be more accurate to the original style.
 
Where in the hell in Iraq are you going where you will get beer? My 3 times in country we didn't get a drop let alone 3 beers a day!
 
Hey man, be careful over there! Don't fall victim to making the Gatorade hooch (I talked to a guy who was over there, they fermented the Gatorade or something to that effect in the rafters, being that it is a dry country there is no alcohol, or at least that was what he said)
 
I have a good friend who made all kinds of bootleg wine while he was deployed. Said some of it was actually tollerable. Good luck over there.
 
Thank you for your service. Stay safe over there. You'll have a great lineup of brews waiting for you when you get back!
 
Hey I've been over there myself and I know alcohol is not allowed but....
If you or someone happens to post your address over there who knows what random things people might happen to send to said address with no return address or a fake return address on the label. Either in a delicious IPA format or in a more subtle vodka in a water bottle or just snacks from the states. All I'm saying is from someone who has been there is that it might be worth your while to let us know once you have such info. Because brewing out of your locker over there sucks and will not turn out as planned.(trust me on this)
 
Going to Balad?

nevermind- Al Udeid is a vacation. Its hot s a mother****er though. Was 135 in may last time I was there. Humid too
 
Going to Balad?

nevermind- Al Udeid is a vacation. Its hot s a mother****er though. Was 135 in may last time I was there. Humid too

Yeah, it's going to be easy street over there compared to how most people have it. Plus, as an NCO I get my own room. :ban:

But yeah, it'll be hot as hell. It'll be even worse because most of what I do is around running aircraft engines.
 
Al Udeid. My mistake, I didn't realize that Qatar was a different country.

You'll get your beer there. I was there for a couple days on my first tour for R&R.

Pretty cushy spot compared to most. It'll be hotter than hell, but having your own room will be great. Just bank all that extra pay. You'll be suprised how much money you can save if you don't spend it on dumb stuff.
 
I may see you in Al Udeid on my way over to the sandbox, Going in Aug. I think I will try a 6 month aged beer too. I would not have if not for your post. Good luck with all those beers.
 
I may see you in Al Udeid on my way over to the sandbox, Going in Aug. I think I will try a 6 month aged beer too. I would not have if not for your post. Good luck with all those beers.

Yeah, if you see the B-1B bombers, look for the guy supervising the bomb loading. :D

Just a quick update for this week: I ordered the AHS Robust Porter this morning, and I'll be brewing it as soon as it comes in. I'll be using the White Labs WLP023 Burton Ale yeast. My plan is to brew the aged beer first, rack it to secondary, wash the yeast, then repitch that with the second batch. Money's a bit tight right now, so I can't just brew everything all at once.

Edited: I really wish I could change the name of this thread. After realizing that Al Udeid isn't in Iraq, I feel like a dolt every time I see it.
 
Yeah, if you see the B-1B bombers, look for the guy supervising the bomb loading. :D

Just a quick update for this week: I ordered the AHS Robust Porter this morning, and I'll be brewing it as soon as it comes in. I'll be using the White Labs WLP023 Burton Ale yeast. My plan is to brew the aged beer first, rack it to secondary, wash the yeast, then repitch that with the second batch. Money's a bit tight right now, so I can't just brew everything all at once.

Edited: I really wish I could change the name of this thread. After realizing that Al Udeid isn't in Iraq, I feel like a dolt every time I see it.

Eh- Its sandy- hot as **** and you work for the same *****ebags.

So its no different than Iraq/Afghanistan/Kuwait
 
You'll get your beer there. I was there for a couple days on my first tour for R&R.

Pretty cushy spot compared to most. It'll be hotter than hell, but having your own room will be great. Just bank all that extra pay. You'll be suprised how much money you can save if you don't spend it on dumb stuff.

On any deployment, even a small percentage of your pay MUST be spent on dumb stuff when possible :ban: I was Aus Army for 10 years. My wife once sent me these delicious anchovy stuffed olives, unfortunately the bottles broke enroute so they left the package to dry out somewhere and sent it to me, there were a couple of writing pens in there, they smelt like anchovies for the rest of the tour lol.
 
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